Laura Woodward was born in Mount Hope in Orange County, New York, in 1834, and by the early 1870s she was a professional artist living in New York City. She painted in the Catskills, the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains, and captured the Maine and Massachusetts coasts and the Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania landscapes on canvas as well. A member of the Hudson River and White Mountain Schools, she exhibited at the American Art Gallery, National Academy of Design, Boston Art Club, Brooklyn Art Association, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Centennial Exposition of 1876, and several other venues including numerous Midwest and Southern expositions. She also exhibited with the American Watercolor Society at the National Academy of Design. Her reviews in the New York Times, the Brooklyn Eagle and art publications of the day were glowing and her paintings commanded higher prices than some of her male colleagues.
Woodward began to spend the winters in St. Augustine, Florida, in the 1880s and by the end of 1889 she had joined Martin Johnson Heade and the other artists at Henry M. Flagler's Ponce de Leon Hotel. Laura was to become Florida's most important nineteenth-century woman artist, one of Florida's greatest publicists, and integral to the development of Palm Beach County.
Laura was disappointed in St. Augustine because it was not as tropical as she had hoped, so she traveled throughout Florida searching for exotic plants and flowers. She was told of how beautiful Palm Beach was and made the arduous trip south to discover the true tropical foliage she was longing for. By 1890 Woodward was spending time in Palm Beach and Jupiter, painting outside amid what was then largely jungle and swampland inhabited by panthers, bears, and numerous alligators. She brought her watercolor sketches of that area back to St. Augustine and told Henry Morrison Flagler that Palm Beach should be developed as a resort, using her paintings as full-color evidence of her ideas. Flagler listened to Laura, was compelled by her art, and bought property in the same locations depicted in her paintings. When Flagler was constructing his Palm Beach Hotel Royal Poinciana in 1893, he established a temporary studio for Woodward there--a permanent one was included when the hotel was completed in 1894. His newspapers continuously acknowledged Woodward as being responsible for publicizing the allure of the east coast of Florida to the entire nation.
Later, Laura visited Miami and the regions around it. She painted Seminoles in their dugout canoes and also sketched in the Everglades--despite the dangerous conditions there. In 1895, Laura, her sister Libbie, and Mrs. Julia Tuttle had an exciting adventure on the Miami River. Woodward's works of the Miami area, as well as many other Florida locales, were well received by the Florida and New York media and collected by prominent art patrons.
Laura Woodward became quite well-known for her delicate renderings in oil and watercolor of unspoiled nature throughout Florida--most notably the Palm Beach jungles and its flowers. In 1920, when the Palm Beach Art League was founded, Woodward became an honorary member. Tragically, due to failing eyesight, she was unable to continue painting by then but remained highly regarded as the famous Florida artist and the pioneer artist of Palm Beach. She continued living in Palm Beach until 1926 when, at the age of 92, it was necessary for her to move to St. Cloud where her caregivers lived. She died shortly thereafter.
© --Deborah C. Pollack The book, Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach, has been published in association with the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Deborah C. Pollack continues to research Laura Woodward and is still searching for material concerning the artist including diaries, letters, paintings, photographs of Woodward, or living relatives of the artist who may have information about her life. Please contact Deborah C. Pollack at: 561-655-1425 or email dcpollack@bellsouth.net.
Laura Woodward (American, 1834-1926) - A Brief Biography and Historical Book Information
View in Clarendon, Vermont, 1874 Scene at Fort Dallas, Miami River, c.1895
Scene at Fort Dallas, Miami River, c.1895
Above: Artist Marie Liu portraying Laura Woodward at the 175th Anniversary of the town of Mount Hope on May 18, 2008, at the Eleazer Harding House in Otisville, New York. If it hadn't been raining, Marie would have
been painting in the forest!
Workmen's Camp, Palm Beach, 1893
Left and below: Actress Heidi Harris portraying Laura Woodward in the televised documentary about the artist, written and directed by Alan Gerstel for the The Education Network, which serves the School District
of Palm Beach County.
Above: Heidi Harris as Laura Woodward
Laura Woodward Florida News:
Deborah Pollack’s lecture on Laura Woodward for the Palm Beach Historical Society is now online at Palm Beach Philanthropy:
The SFWA event at Books and Books including the Laura Woodward presentation was a huge success:
Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach, has been on the Palm Beach best seller list for 21 weeks. It is now available at various Barnes and Noble stores throughout southeast Florida, the South Florida History Museum, Miami University’s special collections, etc. It has recently been accepted by Baker & Taylor, the largest book distributor in the United States.
Laura Woodward's story is now being taught in some Florida schools and colleges.
Exhibitions:
Several original works by Laura Woodward, including a Seminole on a South Florida waterway, hibiscus, cypress swamp, etc., are in New World Eden: Artist-Explorers in the American Tropics at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum from January 26-April 18, 2010. The Flagler Museum holds eight other Woodward paintings on permanent display.
An exhibition of reproductions of Laura Woodward's works and antique Woodward-related artifacts is now at the Boynton Beach Library for the City of Boynton Beach's Art Connections and will remain there until mid-April.
An exhibition of reproductions of Laura Woodward's works are at the Delray Beach Historical Society.
Laura Woodward, Florida's most important nineteenth-century woman artist, will be featured in a forthcoming issue of Antiques and Art around Florida.
Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach was donated to a Palm Beach benefit auction and brought $1,000.00.
Laura Woodward New York News:
Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach, has received five stars from Art Times, a literary journal and arts resource published in New York.
Laura Woodward will be included in Remember the Ladies, Women Artists of the Hudson River School, at Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site from May through October, 2010.
Laura Woodward General News:
We are honored that Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach is featured in the Winter-Spring issue of Antiques and Fine Art, the most popular magazine of its kind.
